This invention relates to novel compositions for topical application to human skin to inhibit perspiration.
One of the most widely used types of cosmetic compositions are the antiperspirants which are designed to inhibit or reduce unwanted perspiration, especially in the axillae. Such compositions generally contain one or more ingredients which inhibit or arrest perspiration flow when applied to human skin. These antiperspirant ingredients are thought to react with the sweat duct by any of a variety of mechanisms and to stop perspiration flow either by a physiological action, or by a physical plugging of the sweat duct. Heretofore, commercially available antiperspirant ingredients have been limited almost exclusively to the partially hydrated acid salts of polyvalent metals, for example the aluminum chlorhydrates, aluminum chloralcoholate compounds, zirconium halide hydrates and the like.
The antiperspirant compounds currently employed all suffer from various defects which limit their utility in day-to-day cosmetic use. For example, many of the commonly used polyvalent metal salts are not sufficiently soluble in organic solvents, especially ethyl alcohol, to allow the formulation of liquid antiperspirant compositions. This recognized defect has been partially overcome by use of such materials as the aluminum chlorhydrate "alcoholates", but these materials generally exhibit reduced antiperspirant effectiveness. In addition, the acid salts of the polyvalent metals sometimes cause an acid reaction on the skin which deteriorates clothing coming in contact therewith. Certain of the known antiperspirant compounds are not sufficiently stable to insure reasonable product shelf life. At the same time, it is well recognized that some antiperspirant compounds apparently are not effective when applied to certain individuals. For these reasons, there is a continuing search for new, effective antiperspirant compounds capable of being formulated into cosmetically acceptable compositions.
Therefore, it is a primary object of this invention to provide new and effective antiperspirant compositions. It is a further object to provide antiperspirant compositions containing certain solvent-soluble tetrakis-(trialkylsiloxy)titanates or tetrakis-(trialkylsiloxy)-zirconates as the antiperspiration ingredient. These and other objects are obtained by the present invention as will become apparent from the following disclosure.